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45 CH APTER THR EE The Veda Revelation and Scripture in Hinduism Let the scriptures be your standard for what should be done and what should not be done. Knowing the regulations of the scriptures you should do your work here. —Bhagavadgītā XVI, 24 No other living tradition can claim scriptures as numerous or as ancient as Hinduism; none of them can boast of an unbroken tradition as faithfully preserved as the Hindu tradition. The sources of Hinduism are not only historical materials to be worked up by the scholar of antiquity; they have been recited and studied by the faithful throughout the ages. The reading of a Hindu religious scripture is always carried out with some kind of solemnity in a worship setting. In order to ward off all unfavorable influences and to create an auspicious disposition, a so-called maṅgala-śloka is recited before the text proper begins, hymns of praise and devotion to a number of deities, to the guru, and to the text to be read. Time, place, and the external circumstances of the recitation are regulated, and the reading itself is usually done in a prescribed recitative .1 It is essential to observe all these rules in order to obtain the fruits of the reading, which are quite often spelled out concretely at the end of the scripture itself.2 The reading is not terminated abruptly either. The last sentence is read twice, thus indicating the end of the reading. The gods who were addressed in the beginning are now implored to forgive all inattention, disrespect, and incorrect or imperfect reading; this is the so-called aparādha kṣamā pañca stotra, marking the conclusion of the recitation. The book of scripture itself is always treated with reverence; it is never laid on the bare floor and is carefully guarded against all disrespect. In former times Hindus did not allow people from low castes or foreigners to read or to possess their sacred books; nowadays anyone 46 PART I: HINDUISM can buy printed copies (and quite often translations also) of Hindu scriptures in a bookstore. Though secular Western scholarship has begun to analyze and dissect the Hindu scriptures, Hindus continue to regard them as revelations,3 given to their ancestors as special privilege, and they resent the secularist view that sees in them only ancient literature. Before the sacred lore was written down, it existed for untold centuries as an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation.4 It was committed to writing only at a relatively late period in its history—and even now the proper study consists in memorizing the texts. The authentic Hindu tradition consists of that chain of authorities in which the oral tradition has been kept alive.5 The various sacred books of the Hindus are not all considered to hold the same degree of revelation. Hindu scholars developed early on a precise and widely accepted theological epistemology, according to which all authoritative literature is categorized. The prasthāna trayī, the triad of instruments for the attainment of religious knowledge for the sake of salvation, consists of śruti, smṛti, and nyāya. From Śaṅkara (Eighth century ce) onward, the Vedāntins identified these with the Upaniṣads, the Bhagavadgītā and the Brahmasūtras. Other schools, for example, the Mīmāṃsakas would not agree with this. As the different branches of Hinduism differ in their ideas concerning orthodoxy and heresy, so they differ also in their recognition of certain classes of scriptures and their relative position in this scheme. R EV EL ATION PROPER: ŚRU TI Śruti literally means “that which has been perceived through hearing”; it is “revelation” in the most immediate sense. As a technical term it comprises the scriptures with the highest theological value, containing supreme and unquestionable authority. Śruti may be commented upon, but it can never be questioned. In theological debates discussion is carried on only for the purpose of establishing the meaning of sruti. Hārīta, an author of an early Dharmasūtra6 holds the opinion that śruti is of two kinds, the Vedic and the Tantric or Āgamic. He thereby acknowledges the fact that in his time the non-Vedic traditions had become powerful enough to claim a position equal to that of the Veda, which originally had held this title exclusively. Even now the sanātanists, the followers of the Vedic dharma, refuse to acknowledge the Āgamas, the scriptures of the Vaiṣṇavas, Śaivas...

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